Stories

Midwives are an amazing group of health-care professionals. Well -respected and highly skilled, midwives provide a wonderful service to women, families and communities in the North. With their health-care expertise, Inuit midwives give women the opportunity to give birth in their own community, surrounded by their family and friends.

Breastfeeding: a public health essential
Slideshow on Nunatsiaq News online, Oct, 4, 2010

Recorded interviews with Inuit midwives, maternity care workers, and nurses

Listen to their stories:

• Speaking Inuktitut is comforting to women in labour – Lily Amagoalik, Inuk Nurse, Iqaluit
  (time: 2:23 minutes)
• How Inuit practices and Western practices around birthing are different – Lily Amagoalik, Inuk Nurse, Iqaluit
  (time: 2:27 minutes)
• The importance of having Inuit traditions part of midwifery and maternity care training – Lily Amagoalik, Inuk Nurse, Iqaluit
  (time: 1:12 minutes)
• Read the transcript of the interview with Lily Amagoalik, Inuk Nurse, Iqaluit
  
• The joy of working with first-time parents - Jennifer Pecek, Inuvialuk Nurse, Inuvik
  (time: 1:09 minutes)
• A challenging delivery – Jennifer Pecek, Inuvialuk Nurse, Inuvik
  (time: 1:51 minutes)
• Using Inuit practices in midwifery training materials – Jennifer Pecek, Inuvialuk Nurse, Inuvik
  (time: 2:28 minutes)
• Read the transcript of the interview with Jennifer Pecek, Inuvialuk Nurse, Inuvik
  

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  INUKTITUT INTERVIEWS

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  Audio is available in Inuktitut only; transcripts are available in English and Inuktitut>>

• As caregivers, do you deal with a lot of prevention and awareness? – Eva Kigutaq, Child and Family Programs, Tungasuvvingat Inuit, Ottawa
  Inuktitut audio | Bilingual transcript
• “Before I came here, I used to be a midwife, I fully enjoyed everything about it and am very proud of it”
  - Eva Kigutaq, Child and Family Programs, Tungasuvvingat Inuit, Ottawa
  Inuktitut audio | Bilingual transcript
• “Since our clients are all Inuit, we try our best to have our services and resources be designed for Inuit and available for Inuit, and we have developed a CD to help them”
  - Eva Kigutaq, Child and Family Programs, Tungasuvvingat Inuit, Ottawa
  Inuktitut audio | Bilingual transcript
• “In my experience, or from what I’ve seen, is that Inuit food has been used the most and it is the best, in our culture”
  - Eva Kigutaq, Child and Family Programs, Tungasuvvingat Inuit, Ottawa
  Inuktitut audio | Bilingual transcript
• “Sometimes a woman has a long labour, or if there is an unexpected sudden delivery and the baby can’t breath … yes, sometimes it’s hard what we have to go through”
  - Kim Moorhouse, Midwifery student, Inukjuak
  Inuktitut audio | Bilingual transcript
• “We use many traditional ways here in our community”
  - Kim Moorhouse, Midwifery student, Inukjuak
  Inuktitut audio | Bilingual transcript
• “The most memorable one I have is when a woman was in labour with 10 centimeters [dilation] … she came in straight to the labour room”
  - Maggie Tayara Saviadjuk, student midwife, Salluit
  Inuktitut audio | Bilingual transcript
• Is any of the midwifery/maternity care training in your region done through the Internet?
  - Maggie Tayara Saviadjuk, student midwife, Salluit
  Inuktitut audio | Bilingual transcript
• “Midwifery teaches many skills; it teaches you how to be a better parent, how to take care of yourselves and many other useful things in nurturing the body and family, so once the student learns all these she gains more confidence ”
  - Maggie Tayara Saviadjuk, student midwife, Salluit
  Inuktitut audio | Bilingual transcript

Stories

• Luckily we had a blizzard
• Aboriginal Midwifery in Canada: podcast
• Home birth in Happy Valley-Goose Bay
• Six women studying in maternal care course
• Interview about Inuit childrearing practices
• Letter from Rebecca Lonsdale

Being a midwife is a challenging task. It’s also interesting and rewarding!

Tell us your story:

• What first attracted you to midwifery?
• What kind of exciting experiences have you had?
• What is your favorite birth that you assisted with?

Disclaimer:
This site provides links to articles, reports, research, presentations, videos and other information pieces prepared by other authors. The National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO) is not responsible for the accuracy or reliability of the information offered in these information pieces. All content in these information pieces represent the views of those authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of NAHO. NAHO does not necessarily endorse the content found in these information pieces.